Delivery of items such as newspapers, magazines and even small houseware and office items to multiple occupancy dwellings and offices can be a problem. If they are placed on the floor in front of the appropriate door they can be readily stolen.
Such receptacles should make removal of the delivered item difficult by unauthorized persons. It should be readily and simply attached to and detached from the door without damaging the door, a requirement of many landlords. It should provide easy access to the intended recipient of the newspaper or other item. It should use a minimum of material in its construction, be lightweight, and be inexpensive to manufacture.
Heretofore, devices for this purpose have been fastened to the door or jamb. One end of the device allows passage of the newspaper inside but restricts removal in some way. The other end allows removal only after unlocking the receptacle or, when the door is open.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,208, for example, would be complex and expensive to manufacture, and would require assembly before use. It cannot be used in the same configuration on both left and right hand opening doors. Its effective use requires that the paper be tightly rolled. That would be almost impossible with the Sunday newspaper of many large cities.
U.S. Pat. No 4,494,690 can only be used with a door of a given thickness, which matches the attachment clip. The retaining clip would slide down the door unless fastened with nails, screws, etc. It would be expensive to manufacture, and require some assembly by the user based on the choice of the opposing door jamb.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,062 must be affixed permanently to the door with screws or nails, and would be quite complex and expensive to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,912 also must be affixed permanently to the door via the door handle, and cannot be used in the same configuration on both left and right hand opening doors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,834 would be complex and expensive to manufacture, and it would restrict access to the door knob.